The Best 12 Ways to Repurpose Items in and around the house
We’re repurposing things every day and we don’t even realize it. Items such as boxes, glass jars or cups are some of the most common examples. There are of course lots of others that could potentially become a part of our routines. With that in mind, we though of what the best ways to repurpose simple items could be and we came up with these 12 ideas. The projects described below make use of items that you most likely already have in your home or could easily find at your local stores. We find them very clever and inspiring and we hope that you’ll do too.
Empty cookie tins are great for storage and you should definitely keep them. Once all the delicious cookies inside are gone, you can turn them into cute little storage boxes for all sorts of things. The cookie tin filled with sewing supplies even became a meme so you know it’s actually a thing. You can definitely leave the tins as they are but you can also give them a makeover and make them look less like cookie tins and more like actual storage boxes. You can use old road maps and leather strips to make them look super chic and interesting. You can find out all about the transformation on pillarboxblue.
While some repurposing ideas are fairly obvious and common, others can be quite unusual. One example is another project from pillarboxblue which shows how you can repurpose old denim belt loops or seams to decorate old picture frames. That’s definitely not something you see everyday but it’s an interesting and quirky way of making use of your old pairs of jeans.
Plastic spoons can also be repurposed. There’s a bunch of cool things you can do with them, including this gilded candle holder that kind of looks like a dragon egg. You shouldn’t have any problems finding the supplies for this project. The idea is to cut off the handles of the spoons and to spray paint the remaining parts. You then glue them around a glass container creating several layers.
Wooden clothespins can also be repurposed in a ton of cool ways. For example, you can have them stained or spray painted and you can then glue them onto a regular old plant pot, covering the entire exterior surface except for the rim. Add some lacy fabric to cover up the rim and it should look lovely. You can use this clothespin bucket as a storage container for small objects or as an organizer.
We usually don’t even think twice about throwing away the empty toilet paper rolls but perhaps we should. These things can actually be repurposed. You can cut them into rings and use them as cable organizers and you can even use them to make cute decorations like this wreath. Gather a bunch of empty rolls, cut them into segments and spray paint them. Then make a ring out of cardboard and attach the swished segments around the outside of this ring, gradually adding layers until it starts to look like a wreath. Add some decorative flowers and you’re ready to display your new creation.
Where do cable reels go when they become empty? Well, some of them become original pieces of furniture. When you think about it, it kind of makes sense. If you place it on its side, an empty cable reel sort of looks like a table. With a few small changes to the design and a few coats of paint, you can get yourself a cable reel coffee table that you can put in your cozy reading corner, a casual living room or outside on the porch.
A wooden cutting board also has plenty of potential for being repurposed. You’d still be using it in the kitchen but in a different form. The idea here is to turn the cutting board into a tablet holder. Its role would be to hold the tablet in a comfortable position so you can easily read and check online recipe while cooking. All you need for this project is a wooden cutting board and two pieces of wood.
This is another interesting repurposing idea, one that has to do with kitchen organization. This time the idea is to turn a lidded box into a pull-down spice rack. The cool thing is that you can attach this to the underside of your existing kitchen cabinets where it wouldn’t be in the way but would still be easily accessible. You can use any lidded box or briefcase for this project and you can customize it however you want by staining or painting it.
A bunch of empty tin cans can be repurposed into a wine rack. It’s a super easy project, one of the easiest on this list. Clean the cans and remove the top and bottom so they become empty tubes. You need six in total, all of the same size. Using a hot glue gun you can then proceed to put together the rack. You’ll have three modules at the bottom, two in the middle and one at the top. If you want to you can also spray paint all the cans in case you’re not a fan of the metallic look.
A PVC pipe magazine holder is another simple project that you can do. For the frame you need six PVC pipes and eight elbow joints. You can use sandpaper to remove any writing on the pipes and spray paint to give them a fresh and colorful look. Once the frame is in place you can add the fabric pocket which will actually hold the magazines and books.
Wooden crates are obviously meant to store things in but you can also repurpose them. Four wooden crates can be combined into a coffee table. You just place them on their sides and connect them to make a square shape with a hole at the center. This way you can still store things inside the crates. The empty space at the center can be covered up and you can place flat tabletop over all the crates in case you prefer this version.
An old tire is not of much use, unless you repurpose it into a lovely tire stool or pouf. Of course since tires have a very specific smell you probably wouldn’t want to keep one indoor so this sort of project is best-suited for porches and outdoor areas. You’re going to need a lot of rope in order to cover this entire tire and also a piece of wood or plywood, foam and fabric to make the seat cushion for the center. What’s really cool is that you can easily lift this to reveal a secret storage area.